Inmate Communications

The Scotland County Detention Center recognizes the importance of an inmate’s ability to communicate not only with their legal counsel but also their family, friends and community. The Detention Center provides several options to inmates at the facility for communication.

Inmates assigned to the general population cell blocks are allowed access to telephones each day. The inmate telephone system is programmed for outgoing collect calls only and are provided through Paytel. The party accepting the collect call will be required to set up an account and will be billed accordingly.

During the initial phase of the inmate booking procedure, each inmate is afforded the opportunity to make two (2) local free telephone call. The party receiving this free call still has the opportunity to accept or deny the telephone call. After the two (2) free calls the inmate will have to call collect or the fees for the call will be deducted from his/her inmate account that is created during booking.

• Inmates are not permitted to receive telephone calls.
• All telephone calls are limited to fifteen minutes.
• Three way telephone calling is strictly prohibited.
• Detention Staff cannot pass notes or deliver any messages to inmates.

All inmate telephones within the cell blocks will be turned on at 7:00 a.m. and turned off at 10:30 p.m daily. Telephones will also be turned off during meals, shift changes and any other time deemed necessary by the Scotland County Detention Center in order to maintain the safety and security of the facility.

Under certain circumstances, inmates may be denied access to telephones. These circumstances include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Inmates housed in Disciplinary Segregation.
• Inmates placed on Closed Custody.

If an inmate needs to be contacted in the event of an emergency, please contact the Scotland County Detention Center at   ☎️910-276-3168. If an inmate is hearing impaired, the Detention Center is equipped with TTY machines to accommodate them.

To stop an inmate from calling, please call the detention center and advise them you would like your phone number blocked. You may also choose not to accept a call that is placed to you on a one-time-basis by selecting the appropriate selection once you hear the initial message when an inmate calls. If you have questions regarding the inmate telephone service (telephone call charges) or you are experience problems receiving calls from the Detention Center, please call ☎️910-277-3166 (Jail)  .

Inmates may use the U.S. Postal Service to send and receive correspondence. Writing materials, cards and stamps are available to inmates through the Commissary Service. Paper, stamps, envelopes and postcards cannot be mailed to inmates for use in their correspondence. Indigent inmates are provided writing materials and envelopes to mail two personal letters per week.

Inmate mail is distributed Monday through Friday within 24 hours of being received from the U.S. Post Office, except during weekends and holidays.

Incoming mail must have the full name and address of the sender clearly written on the outside of the envelope. All correspondence must be written in ink and not pencil.  Incoming mail must be addressed to the full name of the inmate (the name and spelling under which they were booked in). Any mail not meeting these requirements will not be accept. To expedite delivery to the inmate, all inmate mail sent to the Scotland County Detention Center should be addressed as in the following example: (see picture below)

All correspondence, with the exception of legal mail, will be opened and scanned into a .pdf format and distributed electronically. Legal mail is correspondence or legal materials coming from an attorney and must be clearly marked “Attorney/Client Mail” or “Legal Mail”. Any legal mail received will be opened and inspected in the presence of the inmate. No inmate-to-inmate mail is allowed either directly or by a third party without prior approval by the Jail Administrator.

When sending letters or cards to an inmate at the Scotland County Detention Center, certain rules and guidelines apply to ensure the safety and security of the inmates and the facility.

Allowed Items:

• Envelopes no larger than a No. 10 business envelope, unless it is legal mail from an attorney.
• Cards or paper no larger than 8 1/2″ x 11″.
• One store bought or homemade greeting card no larger than 5″ x 8″.
• Up to ten pages of handwritten or typed person-to-person correspondence.
• One piece of paper which has been reproduced or copied from a mass produced item such as a book or from the Internet.
• Inmates may have no more than the (3) pictures no larger than 4″ x 6″ in their possession which contain no nudity or suggestive poses.

Prohibited Items:

• No cash, checks or money orders.
• No personal property will be accepted.
• Cannot contain stationery, postage stamps or envelopes.
• No greeting cards with foil, glue, felt, glitter, music, etc.
• No stickers, gloss paper, laminated products, crayon or lipstick.
• No liquids on paper, such as perfume, cologne, glue, etc.
• No drawings inside on letters, coloring, crayons or markers.
• No staples, paperclips or any metal object.
• No cutouts from magazines.
• No inappropriate photographs or drawings.

Incoming mail containing photographs is strictly monitored. Inmates are only authorized to possess up to three (3) photographs printed on regular copy paper at any time. Photographs exceeding this amount are inventoried, documented and stored in the inmate’s property for return upon the inmate’s release.

Any mail received not meeting all of the guidelines listed above, or that contain prohibited items, will be returned in it’s entirety to the sender. If any illegal substances are found, the correspondence will be turned over to the Scotland County Sheriff’s Office for further investigation which may result in criminal prosecution.